


Vanished

by scareoset



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Swearing, Unfinished, forgive me this is not fanfiction, i will tag original works as "scareoset" for now, scareoset - Freeform, this is just fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29096775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scareoset/pseuds/scareoset
Summary: The sun disappears and I guess I'm raising a pet in the apocalypse now.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Vanished

**Author's Note:**

> just some original fiction dont mind me. this is also like 70% of the story and idk if there will be a part 2 or just a little end to the story lmao

I didn’t realize that the sun had disappeared. I assumed that it was still close to dawn, but my clock told me that it was lunchtime. Confused, I looked to the sky for an explanation and found nothing but gray and orange. The air didn’t smell like smoke, though I knew that massive fires were raging over the mountains. But it was definitely smoke. Clouds don’t look that brown. Surely, I thought, the sun should be shining behind the smoke. Just yesterday I saw it as a red circle behind everything. It was missing. Then it started to get dark.

I stumbled out of my apartment, hoping to find someone just as confused as I was. The courtyard was abandoned, coated in a layer of ash and dust. I felt my pulse quicken and I started to call out. “Hello? Is anybody here?” Panic cracked my voice and I choked back a sob. The parking lot was empty, tire marks on the sooty asphalt telling me that I was the last one here. Shit. I didn’t have a car up here. It got hard to see and harder to breathe. I ran blindly back to my door, fumbled with the lock for a few frustrating seconds, slammed it behind me, and broke down crying with my back against it.

Once I regained my composure, I checked my phone. No service. It needed a charge, but at least there was still electricity, right? Fuck. I bolted to the light switch and flicked it. For a second, nothing happened. Hot, bitter anger filled my chest and I clenched my teeth to bite back a scream of rage. Slowly, the overhead fluorescent light flickered on. Stupid fucking light. I was supposed to fix it before the world ended. I laughed, but it was cruel and hollow. I couldn’t see anything outside of my windows anymore.

With no car, I’d have to hike out of here and hope that there was someone left in the town down the hill. I needed to pack. Plug in the phone, get some water and some food, prepare a bag. I spent my teenage years being forced through the Boy Scouts, which was as pleasant for a gay kid as it sounds. Aside from the trauma, I came out of it with survival skills hammered into my head. Knife, fire starter, clothes, food, compass, water, first aid kit, flashlight, sun protection…actually, forget that one. There’s a whole list of essentials.

I had a big bag on my bed and I was stuffing whatever I could in it. I went to the kitchen with my water bottles when the sink made a noise. I set the half-full bottle down and reached to turn off the faucet, but the water stopped before my hand touched the handle. The sink creaked and rattled and something shot out of the tap and onto the bottle. “Goddammit!” I snarled as I wrenched the handle. Whatever came out of the sink had ruined half of my water and I didn’t trust anything coming out of the faucets here anymore. I wiped my hands with a towel and peered into the sink basin to see what had just cost me my bottle.

It was a clot of gunk the size of my fist, red and black and messy. “This is so fucking gross,” I moaned. I reached for the sponge before I realized that there was no water to help clean up the mess. Resigning myself to defeat, I took my remaining water and finished zipping up my backpack. Since the world was ending and the sun was gone, I decided all the things I left on the shelves and in the cabinets (All of my shit, I thought angrily) was forfeit anyways. I still locked the front door behind me. Just in case it wasn’t.

I clicked on my flashlight and made my way to the road. It was asphalt, but it was rough. It had been paved decades ago and was full of potholes. The air was cold, and I pulled my jacket tighter around me. The woods around me were quiet. I guessed that the animals were just as scared and confused as I was. Comforting. I smirked to myself.

I walked for a while, hearing nothing but the pounding of my heart in my ears. My hands were cold and stiff and the metal of the flashlight made me wish I’d remembered my gloves. Up ahead I saw a blue flickering light, so I killed mine and tried to be quiet. As I came around the bend in the road, I saw a car on fire. The flames were tall and cold and silent. This is not normal. This is not normal. I shut out my own thoughts and backed away slowly.

Something moved behind the fire. Something big. I tripped over my own feet trying to get some distance. The impact of my body against the ground should have been quiet, but in a silent world it felt like a cannon blast. The Something heard me. Oh great, it has ears. I grimaced as I pushed myself slowly to my feet. Calm and quiet to make sure it doesn’t see me as a threat, right? I kept my arms spread wide, my hands splayed. It moved around the car towards me and I saw more of It. Smooth and slimy, It looked like it was gliding. There were hundreds of tendrils beneath it acting as legs. There weren’t any visible eyes, but when I took a half step to the side, it tracked my movement. I swore under my breath and it screamed. I couldn’t see a mouth but it screamed. The noise was so loud that I didn’t notice when it stopped and left my ears ringing. I screamed right back, my mouth stretching so wide it made my jaw hurt. I turned and ran right back up the hill.

  
I stumbled over the rough road and tried to get my flashlight to turn on, banging it against my hand. Eventually a thin, weak beam flickered and I was able to see where I was going. I didn’t dare look behind me to check on the Something; I was sure that it was gliding after me, hunting me. My apartment building was in front of me now, only a couple hundred yards away. I struggled to get my keys ready as I bounded through the lobby door and up the stairs. With the power out, my light swung in a disorienting fashion. I was sure my footsteps were echoing loudly, but all I could hear was ringing from the Something’s roar. I felt my heartbeat pulse through me, outpacing my racing steps. My door was up ahead now; I reached for the lock.

I was safe. I locked the door and collapsed on my hands and knees, taking shaky breaths as I choked and cried. I wouldn’t be able to get to town with that thing on the road hunting me. I slid my backpack off and curled up in the corner of the room. Can it hear me? I thought to myself as I struggled to control my breathing. I felt something on my neck and wiped it with my hand. My fingers came away red. Blood. I felt the line up to my ears. Fuck, can I hear anything? I decided to risk snapping my fingers once by each of my ears. It was muffled, but I could hear. Thank the gods my ears still work. It would be harder to see the Something with the sun gone and my flashlight on the fritz, so I was grateful for any ear function I had.

  
Slowly, I pulled myself to my feet and picked up my flashlight. I’d have to spend the night here at least. How will I know that it’s the daytime? I needed sleep regardless, so I took my gear into my room, cleared off the bed, and fell asleep on top of the covers.

My eyes snapped open later. I was covered in sweat and it felt cold against my skin. I reached for my water bottle and took a long gulp. My head hurt and I felt nauseous. How long had it been since I’d eaten? Since I was back home, I could make use of the food I’d left behind and preserve as much of my non-perishable food as possible. The refrigerated food was done for – with no power to keep it cool I was sure that it had spoiled. I resigned myself to dry cereal. After breakfast, I decided to change into less sweaty clothes. While I was pulling a long sleeved shirt over my head, I heard something from the kitchen. I stopped. Has it found me? I pulled my knife out of my bag. It was a tiny thing, more a multi-purpose tool with a two-inch blade as an afterthought, but I gripped it in my fist regardless. I slunk out of my room with the flashlight in one hand and the knife in the other and made my way to the kitchen.

I heard it again, it sounded like dishes clattering together. Something fell and shattered. A small scream leapt out of my throat before I could clamp my mouth down to trap it. The noises from the kitchen stopped. “Shit,” I groaned. It didn’t matter if it heard me now. I grit my teeth and marched towards the noise. As I turned the corner, I swung the beam of my flashlight in an arc, surveying the damage done to the kitchen. One of the cabinets was open, its door hanging at an odd angle. There was a broken bowl on the floor. I heard more clattering from the cabinet and pointed the light back inside. Another bowl shuddered and I saw something behind it. “Thank the gods you aren’t that beast outside,” I said as I opened the other cabinet door. Slowly, I lifted the flashlight to see what had gotten into my dishes. Probably just a rat or an opossum. Something as scared as I am. It wasn’t.

I was staring at the sink clot from yesterday. It wasn’t red anymore, just sleek and black and shiny. And it was moving, burrowing into the corner of the cabinet. Underneath it was a mass of…

“Oh, fuck.”

Tendrils.

“You’re a baby Something.”

It did not respond.

“Is that monster out there your mom?”

It did not understand English.

I lowered my knife and the flashlight. It stopped.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. What do you need?” I softened my voice and backed away slowly. If I can help this thing, maybe the Something outside will let me live. I knew that it wasn’t likely. Whatever these things were, they weren’t human. I didn’t think they were even from this planet. It felt on brand for the apocalypse. I turned my back to the little Something and rooted in the pantry for a snack to give it. Stale crackers? Sure, why the hell not? I opened the package and slowly (Gods, I hope this is slow enough.) offered them up.

The baby Something stopped squirming and turned to face me. (Does it even have a face?) I left the crackers on one of the plates stacked in front of the hole it was digging (Chewing?) in the back of the cabinet. I backed away. Slowly. It cautiously approached the offering, circled it tentatively, and then they just disappeared. “Does…did you eat it?” I knew it wouldn’t understand me. It hopped – floated, glided – down to the floor and shuddered. “Shit, was that bad for you?” I bent over and reached out to pick it up but it twitched and spasmed. Then it popped. I squeezed my eyes shut and brought up my arm to protect my eyes as a wave of goop exploded into my face.

“Blech!” I sputtered and wiped my mouth and forehead. It was still on the floor, but it was bigger. “Hey, you’re okay!” As long as I was feeding it, I hoped it wouldn’t want to kill me. I reached out to pet it, like it was the cat at my parents’ home before I realized that it was a slimy alien. Its skin was smooth and cold beneath my hand, but surprisingly dry. The creature rumbled softly. Approvingly? There was a chirping noise, which I took as confirmation, so I kept petting it.


End file.
